Eco-Friendly Metal Roofs Save Money and the Planet

Dec. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- Sure, painting your roof white could reduce your cooling costs, but what will the neighbors say?  And what happens in the winter, when additional heat is needed inside your home?

Highly reflective “cool” colored metal roofs look just like traditional roofs, and provide year-round relief from high energy costs. The pigments in a darker colored cool metal roof reflect solar heat gain instead of absorbing it, achieving the benefits of a lighter colored roof without looking like a “spotlight,” causing neighborhood alarm.

“We’ve heard from many consumers who report that a white roof just won’t work in their community.  Curb appeal rules, and a white roof is just not appropriate in many cases,” said PreCoat Metal's Bill Hippard, president of the non-profit Metal Roofing Alliance.  “Rather than hear complaints from neighbors, many homeowners looking to reduce year-round energy costs are choosing darker colored, yet highly reflective, metal roofs.”

Tests conducted by the independent Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) indicate that a cool metal roof can save a homeowner up to 25% in cooling costs compared to a dark-gray asphalt shingle.  

In areas with cold winters, above-sheathing ventilation is the key to achieving year-round benefits.  New ORNL research shows that additional savings are possible if metal roofs are installed with an air-ventilation gap above the sheathing—the cool roof and air gap save energy in the summer, and the air space cuts heat loss in the winter.

ORNL’s field tests have shown that the combination of venting and increased reflectance can reduce the heat penetrating the roof deck by about 45 percent for stone-coated metal roofs compared to an asphalt shingle roof in certain climates. Ongoing research with standing-seam cool-colored metal roofs is showing similar results.

The improved summer performance coupled with the reduced heat losses during the winter show that high solar reflectance metal roofs negate the “heating penalty” associated with a white roof.

“Some ideas are better in theory than in practice,” continued Hippard.  “The old concern of ‘not in my back yard’ is hard to overcome when consumers are making home improvement choices.  Metal roofing provides the perfect solution – it’s good for the environment, saves money and preserves the home’s beauty for decades.”

The MRA was formed to answer homeowners’ questions about residential metal roofing, including their energy benefits and environmental impact.  For more information, visit www.metalroofing.com.

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The Metal Roofing Alliance (www.metalroofing.com) is a non-profit organization that educates homeowners and contractors about the benefits of durable residential metal roofing. Many homeowners choose metal now because it saves money and is eco-friendly